The White Rabbit

Chapter 8

   With the the coming of summer means hot weather, swimming, vacations, and fun. But, there's also the part where school hasn't ended yet and 30 students sit in one classroom that doesn't have any air conditioning and teachers try to keep cramming information into your head.
   As of right now, about 20 student sat with their head on the desks, fast asleep. Nope, Ali just fell asleep. Make that 21. My English teacher tries in vain to get the class to wake up. The rest of the students that aren't asleep are either on their phones or drawing in their notebooks. I lean me head on my head and look ahead.
It seems that the teacher has finally given up on trying to get the class awake. I laugh silently as I watch her groin and sit down at her desk. After a while, the bell rings and 29 students rush out of the classroom. I walk up towards Ali and shake her roughly. "Ali, get up. We gotta go to class."
She groans. "Just 5 more minutes." I shrug. "Okay I'll just go to gym without you then." At that, Ali jumps up and runs out the door. When she doesn't see me behind her, she pokes her head back in the classroom. "Come one slow poke!"
I shake my head and walk towards her and together we walk to gym.
I sit on the ground panting as everyone else finishes up. Today, we had to run 5 laps around the field in under 20 minutes. I'm not sure how much time I finished in, but I did better than most. There's at least 12 people who are just getting to their 4th lap. Ali sits next to me grinning from ear to ear. It's not surprising that she finished quickly. She loves gym with a passion and will gladly do anything that the gym teacher tells her.
When everyone's finished, we all smell like sweat and onions. "Alright everyone, go hit the showers and you're dismissed," my gym teacher says. I turn and practically bolt to the showers, leaving Ali in the dark. If it's one thing I hate, it's being dirty.
The warm water runs down my body, giving me a moment of refreshment. I stand in the far corner of the boys' shower. Most of the other boys have left already so there's only a handful of us left. I turn the water off and wrap a towel around my waist. When I turn around, I'm surprised to see that there's no one left. The entire shower room is quiet, giving off an eerie feeling.
I walk through the shower room and go inside of the locker room. The locker room is empty too. Not a single shred of clothing was left other than my own. I shrug and assume that everyone just left early. I walk over to my locker and it seems like my footsteps belong to ten people. My breath is like a roar in the silent room and my heart quicken in unknown anticipation. I open my locker and immediately dozens of tampons and pads fall out of the locker. I suddenly remember the movie Carrie, where this exact moment happened.
As the female products rush out of the locker, every boy in the class comes inside of the locker room. Bright flashes blind me as they take pictures of me. Suddenly Evan walks inside of the locker room. He walks in front of me and reaches for the towel wrapped around my waist. I try to pull back and run away from him, but two other boys hold my arms behind my back. Evan grips the towel in his hand as I kick and scream for him to let go. I try to kick him away but he grabs my leg and elbows it, making me cry out in pain. Before I know it, the towel is ripped off of me and cold air hits my body.
   The boys around me take pictures. One of them calls out "I bet the faggot likes for us to look at him like this."
   The two boys holding me throw me to the ground. I try to catch myself, but I lose my balance and my head connects with the wooden bench. My vision is blurry as the boys surround me, laughing. I reach up and feel my head. It is wet with what can only be blood and when I look at my hand, my fears are proven to be true.
   Suddenly Evan steps on my penis. His foot digs hard into me and I cry out. It hurts so bad! A fist connect with my jaw and I fall back. Evan wraps his fingers into my hair and pulls me up so that I'm facing him.
   "Why don't you just do us all a favor and go kill yourself?" He smirks before punching me in my face. He bangs my head against the floor and stands up. My head throbs with pain and my lower body hurts. I lay on the floor waiting for the pain to subside while the boys leave the locker room, laughing on their way out. I don't know how long I lay there, naked and bleeding, but eventually I hear the door open and someone walk in.
   "Jace!" I recognize the voice as the gym teacher. He lifts me up and notices my bleeding head. "My God Jace, who did this to you?" I don't respond to him. There's a ringing in my ear when everything goes black.

     ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

   The annoying sound of beeping is what wakes me up. I notice that I'm not in the locker room on the floor anymore. There's something soft under me and I recognize it as a bed. A hospital bed.
   "Well find out who did this!" A voice yells. I look to my side and see my dad on the phone. He notices that I'm awake and says goodbye to whoever's on the phone and hangs up. "Jace? Bug, are you okay?"
    I nod my head. The pounding is now only a dull throb. "What happened?" My voice is raspy and annoying. Just like me.
   "Luckily you don't have a concussion," he says. "That wound in your head only needed a few stitches and the doctor's gonna give you something for the headache."
   I nod to show him I'm listening but my mind is elsewhere. What happened to Evan and the boys?
  "Jace," my dad says. "Who did this to you?"
   I can't tell him. If I do that'll only make things  worse. It's just like with dad. I can't tell anyone or else I'm done for. "Jace, who did this to you, he repeats. His tone is strict and warns me that he isn't taking 'no' for an answer. My dad reaches out and takes my hand.
   "Jace tell me who did this." His grip gets tight and begins to hurt.
    "E-Evan," I whimper out. I'm pathetic. Immediately, his grip loosens. He stands up and tell me "I'll handle him," before walking out of the hospital room.
    I never thought I'd see the day where I was scared for Evan.
  
      ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  I left the hospital yesterday and my dad just left for work. The doctors gave me some pills for my headaches and I can't return to school until next week. When Ali heard what happened she rushed over here and bombarded me with questions. When I told her it was Evan and his friends who did this, she promised to kick their asses. I don't want Ali to get involved in my fights. It's not just because she's a girl. It's because she's my friend and I don't want her to fight my battles for me. When I told her this, it took a bit of convincing, but eventually she agreed to not get involved.
   I sit in the living room watching tv when the doorbell rings. I open the door to see Caleb on the other side. As soon as he sees me, he hugs me tightly. "Jace are you okay? I'm so sorry about what happened. I wish I could've been there and helped you." I look at Caleb, confused.
   "How do you know about what happened?" He stares at me. "You didn't see?"
   I have a bad feeling about this. I lead Caleb into the living room and we sit on the couch. "Jace, images and videos of you were posted everywhere. I'm so sorry. I'll try to take them down but...I don't know if I can."
   I don't breathe. Not only did those boys see me like that but everyone will see me look pathetic and weak. I stand up and start to go upstairs.
   "Jace," Caleb calls. I don't looks back at him and continue up the stairs. "I need to be alone. You can let yourself out. Just don't let my dad see you."
   "Are you sure," he asks. I nod.
   "I just-I need to be alone for a while."
    I go inside of my room and sit against my bed. Downstairs I hear the front door open before closing again. And once again, I'm left to my thoughts.
    Why does everything in my life have to go wrong? First my mom, then my dad, and now this. It feels like the entire world is against me. Life is nothing but a game. And I haven't been told the rules. If there is a God then he must surely hate me.
    My chest tightens. I can't breathe anymore. My vision goes blurry. My heart pounds against my chest and I'm beginning to lose consciousness. I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm actually going to die.
   And this time, I really want to.